Generations ago, human colonists settled on Wayland and immediately came into conflict with the planet's two native species, the Psadans and the Myneyrshi. The four-armed, blue-crystalline Myneyrshi and the lumpy, plated Psadans were driven from their land until the colonists' weapons began to fail them. When the Empire arrived, the inhabitants were forced to construct the vast storehouse in Mount Tantiss, which is considered a forbidden place by the natives. Palpatine appointed a Guardian to defend his storehouse, though the Guardian was later defeated in battle by the mad Jedi clone Joruus C'baoth. C'baoth forced all three of Wayland's species to live together in a city built against the southwest side of the mountain, where they lived under his strict rule until C'baoth departed with Grand Admiral Thrawn. An Imperial garrison under the command of Colonel Selid was then placed within the mountain, to help safeguard it.

The Mount Tantiss complex had only one entrance, located on the southwest side. The peak of the complex consisted of an emergency shuttle hangar, the royal chambers, and the Emperor's throne room, containing a twenty-meter hologram of the galaxy. The rumored, fully-functioning Spaarti cylinder cloning chamber sat inside a vast natural cavern many stories high. It is said that a mammoth equipment column extended from the cavern's ceiling, and was covered with pipes to nourish the thousands of Spaarti cylinders that were supoosed to be arranged on the main floor and the surrounding balconies. A circular walkway, located ten stories up and accessible through twenty separate doors, was connected to a work platform on the central column by four retractable bridges. The mountain also contained the Emperor's treasure vaults, air intakes on the mountain's surface, and power generators on the northeast side. A secondary maintenance area was located ten kilometers north of the mountain. Most of the mountain were destroyed when Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca sabotaged the central equipment column.

Wayland's plant life includes thornbushes and acid vines, while its animal life includes clawbirds, vine snakes, and six-legged nesting creatures. The predators called garrals, attracted to repulsorlifts and used by the Empire as watchdogs, could either be native to Wayland or have been brought to the planet by the Imperials.